Improved wash-board



@eine tatrs gatrnt @fitte Letters .Patent No. 73,404, (lated January 14,1808.

IMPROVED WASH-BOARD.

ilge Stimuli munt tu im tlgest lttttcrs glrtmt :matutina mut nf flu una.f--f/ Be it known that I, EDGAR M. STEVENS, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk, and State of Massachusetts,

i have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wash-Boards, of whichthe following is a full,`clear, and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification,in which- V Figure 1 represents my invention in perspective, the sameconsisting of a plate or sheet of corrugated India rubber before beingapplied to the frame. v

Figure 2 is a view of the same applied to the frame on a reduced scale;and

Figure 3 is a section of fig. 2.

The object of my invention is to produce a wash-board which shall bemore eilicient and durable than those made of metal and wood now in use;andthe invention consists in making the face of a wash-board ot a plateor sheet of corrugated India rubber, or its compounds, mixed with anysuitable fibrous material, such as cotton or linen rags, and shaped andvulcanized in the mould.

Wash-boardshave heretofore been made of wood or metal, and attempts havebeen ula'de'to form them ofA ordinary vulcanized caoutchouc. Theobjection to those made ot'metal is that the surface is liable to becomebent or broken, and thus tear or injure the clothes. Those made of -woodsoon wear away, and in consequence of the great friction applied inwashing the clothes, the alternate wetting and drying, the raisedportions of the surface become broken and splintered, and the board soonbecomes useless.

In the manufacture of my rubber wash-board, any suitable compound ofIndia rubber is used, which, after being ground upon the ordinary heatedrolls, is spread in a sheet or plate of any suitable or requiredthickness or size. It is then placed in a mould and vulcanized, themould being ofthe form that shall give it the required corrugation.

Fig. 1 represents the plate or sheet as it leaves the mould, consistingof the corrugations a a, which may beangular or curved, and around allits sides is left a plain border or space, 6, by which the rubber isattached to the frame, as shown in fig. 3, the edges being turned downupon the sides, top, and bottom, and thus firmly secured in the frame,as shown in fig. 2.

The proportions of the compound which are preferred are as follows:Eight pounds crude rubber; two pounds litharge; one pound white lead;one pound lamp-black; four pounds calcined plaster, and six ounces ilourof sulphur. To this are addcd,in about thc proportion of one-fourth,ground rags or other suitable fibrous. material. The whole, after beingthoroughly ground upon the ordinary heated rollers, is placed in mouldsand vulcanized by' exposure for ten hours or thereabouts to a.temperature of 275 Fahrenheit. I

A wash-board made and formed as above described, will possess a. certainflexibility and tenacity of frictional surface, which, while it willnotwenr or injure the clothes, as in the case of' the metal or woodenwashboards, will have the property of erasing, as it were, all dirt orfilth from the clothes, and thoroughly cleanse them in a very cilicientand expeditious manner.

The ordinary India 1ubber,without the admixture of some fibrousmaterial, will not answer the purpose, as the severe friction andexposure to which it is subjected would soon wear it away and render ituseless.

I do not confine myself to any particular compound, nor to anyparticular length of time for vulcanizing thc same; but` That I claim asmy invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, as an article ofmanufacture, is-

A corrugated wash-board, when made ot' India rubber mixed with fibrousmaterial, and shaped and vulcanized in the mould,` substantially asdescribed.' 4

-In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification inthe presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

E. M. STEVENS.

Witnesses:

J. H. ADAMS, M., S. G. WILBE.

